Pollocracy
One of the core postulates of social psychology is that our perceptions of the world are not absolute, but instead constrained and filtered by the webs of discourse within which we exist. The Platonic ideal of form over substance is a convenient, reductionist fiction. Ideological pressure, conscious or unconscious, can indeed convince us to emit signs of a particular, preposterous flavour. Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
a Los Angeles Times poll showed that 59 percent of respondents were convinced, despite all available evidence, that Saddam was either partly or mostly responsible for Sept. 11.
a third of respondents in a University of Maryland poll believed that [WMD] have been uncovered.
A fifth of those polled think Iraq actually used [WMD] in the war.
Half of those polled believed Iraqis were among the Sept. 11 hijackers who flew airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. But none of those 19 hijackers came from Iraq. Most were from Saudi Arabia.
“Given the intensive news coverage and high levels of public attention,” Kull said, “this level of misinformation suggests some Americans may be avoiding having an experience of cognitive dissonance.” In other words, they won’t accept facts that conflict with their biases. Kull said most of those who believed weapons had been found were supporters of the war.
‘Do you remember,’ he went on, ‘writing in your diary, “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four”?’
‘Yes,’ said Winston.
O’Brien held up his left hand, its back towards Winston, with the thumb hidden and the four fingers extended.
‘How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?’
‘Four.’
‘And if the party says that it is not four but five — then how many?’